Winning Your Heart
by LeiiYou
Summary: Haruka wins another swim competition—yaawn. It's just another ordinary day until he catches sight of a certain boy who he can't get his mind off. Winning was never that important to Haruka, but how far will he go to win that boy's heart?
1. Chapter 1

"Go, go, Haruka! Go, go, Haruka!"

Nanase Haruka gasped as took in a much-needed gulp of air, before submerging his head underwater again. His body moved fluidly in the cold chlorinated water, and looking very much like a dolphin, as Nagisa always quipped with a sparkle in his eye. Haruka relentlessly continued his swift strokes, carving an opening in the water and sliding his body through that opening—even Haruka agreed that his younger self was a bit overzealous, but he kept the idea in his mind nonetheless. He continued his uniform body movements, carving effortlessly through what seemed to be a barrier for his competitors. Soon, Haruka slammed his hand against the side of the pool and tossed his head up, removing his goggles and swim cap before shaking his hair free of any excess water. The spectators were going wild in their stands, the whole hall vibrating with their voices.

As he was climbing out of the pool and on his way to dry and dress himself, Haruka was almost sure he felt some things being tossed at him from the mad crowd because _gross, was that a tissue sticking to his back?_ Haruka didn't care, though. He was too used to the attention he got from winning swimming competitions since he had won so many, he lost count. Haruka was more than just a little glad that the overwhelming screams and yells and endless cheering was short-lived. Being an attention-seeker wasn't in Haruka's nature, anyway.

And after such a wonderful time of intense swimming, all Haruka wanted to do was go home and take a good long bath with his little floating dolphin. Just the two of them, in a silent house, listening to the cicadas outside.

This time, though, a good long bath wasn't the one distracting him from the deafening yells of affection (_good lord no, please, I'm only freaking seventeen_) from the crowd. Haruka's eyes and mind were focused on one sole thing. Object. Person.

Wait. What? Haruka was actually acknowledging the existence of another human being; aside from Nagisa, Rei and Kou? Was the world going to end? Is this what that weird tingly feeling in his chest was; him sensing impending doom? Or did he forget to keep his natto in the fridge again? A million thoughts rushed through Haruka's head, but aside from a single twitch of his eyelid, his facial expression remained stoic as usual. Unluckily for him, his eyes followed suit and remained in an unchanging position. That is, he was continually staring at _that person_; staring so intensely he might have burned a hole in the poor guy.

_That person_ shifted, feeling a little uncomfortable, but he smiled warmly at Haruka despite his discomfort, hoping he could ease the tension between them. Haruka, dumbstruck at the dazzling smile that human being was humbly flashing at him, felt the foreign warmth crawl up his heart and coil tighter around his chest. He immediately frowned a little, confused and not quite knowing how to react. However, the other guy caught sight of the frown and, not quite knowing how to react to the action of dispute he had received from a stranger, immediately rushed into the lounge to change, get a drink, talk to his team mates and also to hide from someone he had just met five minutes ago. Haruka, snapping out of his trance at the sound of the judge's whistle blowing, went into the lounge as well. His eyes met with the _that person_'s eyes—beautiful green eyes, Haruka noted (for what reason, he didn't know)—and he felt the initial dissipating warmth shooting back up, hot as ever, to grapple at his heart. _That person_ held his breath in; unafraid, but lost for actions as he looked back into stunning sapphire blue eyes, meeting his gaze. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, simply staring at each other.

_Why do I feel like this? What is this foreign feeling? Why am I even paying you any attention? Give me answers. I'm not sure why I want to bother about your answers, but I feel like I must know._

_Why exactly are you taking a sudden interest in me? Did I do something to offend you? I'm sorry if I did and I apologize profusely; so bear me no grudges!_

Their silent unreceived exchange of questions was interrupted when a certain blond grabbed Haruka's shoulder and shook it quite roughly. Haruka refused to turn around, no matter how shrill Hazuki Nagisa whined and how roughly he tugged, until the younger lost his patience and started yelling in his ear.

"Haru-chan! HARU-CHAN! _EARTH TO HARUKA-CHAN!_"

That was when Haruka spun around on his heels to shoot a slight glare at the chirpy—not to mention _loud,_ since everyone in the lounge shot dirty looks at the two of them like they were talking animals—blond who was yelling in his sensitive ears. Haruka made a disapproving noise in his throat, eye lids drooping lower to intensify his glare. Nagisa wasn't fazed by the look at all. After all, he had been shot the same look over and over again, so frequently 'till the gaze itself held no meaning to him anymore. From behind them, Rei curled one side of his lips up; either to show his annoyance or to show that he was glad Haruka turned around, Haruka didn't know. He didn't really care, either.

When Hazuki Nagisa (_"That's our Haru-chan!"_), Ryugazaki Rei (_"That was so inspiring, Haruka-senpai!"_) and Matsuoka Gou (_"You've worked hard, Haruka-senpai! Here, have a towel."_) had started to talk to him (_"...thanks."_), Haruka barely paid attention. His ears might have been situated to catch sounds in front of him, but he strained his senses to focus behind him, where that mysterious being was. Yes, mysterious he was, but not look-wise because holy mother of monkey milk; that person was top-grade eye candy.

Straining his ears, Haruka could hear the conversation between _that person_ and his swim team.

"It was a shame, Makoto. Too bad you were in the same heat as _that_ Nanase, otherwise you would've made it to regionals."

Haruka's eye twitched. It was a small little movement on his part, but it was certainly _something_ for someone like him, who usually never cared about anything and wouldn't budge for a dead dog.

He had given a reaction not just because that voice was referring to him in a very condescending tone, but because he had just heard a name. Makoto. Wait, was it _that person_, or was it someone else? Haruka's instincts told him it was _his_ name, but he wanted to confirm it, first. He would have to hear the reply. Again Haruka strained, his muscles tensing, using more effort in mere seconds than he would have bothered to use in a week.

"Yeah, but it's fine." Said a voice that was clear, calm and nicely-pitched; not too high, not too low. Haruka exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been keeping in. So his name was Makoto, huh?

"I screwed up at my turn, anyway," Makoto continued, his voice sounding like warm butter sliding down hot toast—close your eyes. Use your imagination, dear reader, because I'm sure you must have heard a voice similar to his, and have compared it similarly as well. While Makoto talked, Haruka could almost hear his pleasant smile. "So let's not blame Haruka-ku- I mean, Nanase-san."

At the slight slip of Makoto's tongue, Haruka's face flushed red without him even realizing it. Did Makoto just call him by his first name?! Even if it was a mistake, it sent sparks off in Haruka's abdomen. He finally realized that his face was heating up, and he quickly used his hands to rub at his cheeks, hoping the redness would quickly fade and praying that none of his friends would notice. However, Lady Luck was not on Haruka's side—or if she even took sides at all, he didn't know—but the aforementioned redness was painfully, starklingly obvious on Haruka's paper-white skin. Nagisa was the first to catch sight of it, and he immediately opened his mouth, questions pouring out of his mouth while his hands were moving all over Haruka's face. Try as he might, Haruka couldn't get a single syllable in and he simply gave up, looking boredly at Nagisa's face.

"Why are you so red, Haru-chan? Did you get yourself sunburned? Don't tell me you forgot to put sunblock on again. (_Nope. Slathered my freaking body in it._) Oh, or are you just dehydrated? Here, cool off. (_I can't believe I'm saying this, but no water for me, thank you. I'm already kind of drowning here._) No? Well, okay then. Is this place too congested for you? (_Well yes, but I find _everything_ congested, even toilet stalls._) Are you feeling okay? (_Yes._) Maybe you're sick? (_I'm fine, jeez._) No, your forehead feels okay.. Hey, by the way, we should go to WcDonalds to celebrate you going into regionals. (_But me going into regionals..it's nothing new. And what's with the sudden topic change?_) Would you prefer a chicken or fish burger? Oh wait, I'm guessing you want a mackerel burger.. I don't think they have those, though, Haru-chan. (_I'd like a serving of Peace And Quiet, please. Oh, and for the sake and sanity of mankind, Nagisa, I think you should get an enormous plate of Shut Up with a side of Leave Me Alone._) Are you okay with other kinds of fish instead? Hey, Haru.."

Haruka stopped listening at that point, allowing his roaming thoughts to clog his mind up for a bit. Nagisa kept on rambling about different kinds of fish and how Haruka might like them, but Nagisa was using the dumbest reasonings to pique Haruka's interest (_"I think you'll like this one, 'cause this fish has the same tail-shape as mackerel! Isn't that cool?!"_), so Haruka only nodded occasionally, but his mind was far far away. Far far away as in right behind him, where Makoto was. It made Haruka feel tingly just thinking about Makoto standing so close to him. It took him all his will for him not to turn around, just to catch a little glimpse of Makoto once more. Even just a shoulder and Haruka would be satisfied, but he didn't want the others to wonder why he was turning around for. It would have been dreadful if they found out his crush on someone he met (translation: made eye contact with) fifteen minutes ago.

Wait.. crush? He meant _interest_. Pure, unadulterated interest. Yeah. Because there was positively nothing that was enough to spark attraction about his well-toned body and—oh sweet god—perfectly balanced six packs. Haruka melted a little inside. When Nagisa had finally stopped talking and Rei took over; telling everyone to pack up so they could go have lunch (_"Rei-chaaaan. I want fast food _so badly_ so..pleeeaase?"_), Haruka shifted from his stiff position, his mind working furiously. He could easily catch a glance at Makoto if he pretended to arrange his things.

Without a second thought and thinking it was all a good plan, Haruka turned around, picking at his things and putting random objects into his bag. He allowed himself one little peek. Just a tiny, tiny look.

When Haruka's eyes met Makoto's, they both flinched slightly; since they were not expecting the other to look as well. Stunning, sea blue met gorgeous green the color of olive leaves, and each turned away simultaneously with the same glint reflected in their eyes.

Haruka continued the rest of his packing, barely realizing he had placed Nagisa's goggles and Rei's spare shirt along with his things as well, and changing into proper clothes—Makoto was watching in surprise when Haruka didn't even bother to remove his swimming pants and simply layered his clothes over it. After a good while, they walked out the door, their Iwatobi jackets tied around their waists.

As they left, Makoto watched a certain Iwatobi member very attentively, eyes glued on his slim figure and—_hngh_—perfect, defined jawline that curved sharply up to his ear. He could almost imagine dragging his tongue over it; but he halted his thoughts for fear of too much activity going down south. Makoto grinned to himself, and went on packing, wondering how he was going to find out that gorgeous Nanase Haruka's number.

xxx

So, that's the first chapter guys! :) I'm a pretty slow worker so I apologize, but I'm already three-quarters done with the second chapter :P I figured I should prepare a solid storyline just in case I lose inspiration halfway xD So yeah, hope you like this! :) Reviews are greatly appreciated :D

~LeiiYou


	2. Chapter 2

"Nooo! Rei-_chaan_!" Nagisa whined, arms stretched downwards, hands forming fists. "You know I don't particularly like fish, so why order me a fish burger?" Rei simply sat down, looking at Nagisa indifferently.

"You're getting fatter, anyway."

"Am not!"

"Oh really? Who's the one who couldn't fit into his swim pants and had to buy a new one _two sizes bigger_ at the store, I wonder?"

"_REI-CHAN!_ That's a secret!"

The two continued their fruitless quarrel, the noise getting louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. Or should I say Nagisa was the one who relentlessly increased volume, spitting out arguements in Rei's face. (Rei kept having to wipe the flecks of spit off his face and spectacles; so, yes, quite literally.) Haruka and Kou could only sigh as they faced away from the bickering pair, sipping their drinks quietly. The hanging silence between the two peaceful ones was getting unbearable and felt like a weight on their shoulders. Kou was the first one to speak up, taking her hands off her cold, droplet-covered milk cup and wiping the moisture off her hands on her skirt.

"So, Haruka-senpai," Haruka turned to face her. "You seemed a little..distracted just now. Anything the matter?" Kou had sincere concern shining off her face.

"...I'm fine, I just-"

Haruka's vocal chords stopped functioning for a while. His eyes simply widened when he saw a group of people, around his age, wearing black and red jackets, walking in. Samezuka swim team. His fists clenched. He knew too many people there than he was comfortable with, and they either envied him or completely despised him for constantly being the one preventing their swimmers from progressing in a competition. And yet there they were, in an enormous group of about 50 swimmers, waiting to be seated. Kou, noticing Haruka's glare behind her, turned around to find the source of her senpai's annoyance. She gasped, then started smiling. Her eyes quickly searched through the heads of Samezuka, and she found the one she was looking for. A cherry-red head, to be particular. She stood up, and that head caught sight of her. A smile spread over their faces.

"Onii-chan!" Kou chirped, running to her brother's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder protectively, looking at her with soft eyes. Haruka huffed and rolled his eyes.

_Thanks for taking my venting machine away, stupid Rin._

Kou and Rin started talking; Rin's sharp, white teeth occasionally glinting. Haruka sipped away at his chocolate milkshake, observing the rest of the Samezuka team with a certain level of interest.

_There's Nitori Ai, Rin's roommate; wow, he's really grown since I last saw him. Is he taller than Rin? Oh, no, they're the same height..And there's Yosuke Kinoiyori, the little bastard that never stops trying to flirt with every girl he meets. Wait, did he just wink at m—ah forget it, must've been my imagination. Oh and of course the Furuami twins, Yoshimitsu and Yoshitaka, would be there. Their speed's really gotten better over the years. Did they win in the medley relay? I think so. Whoa, hold up, who's tha-"_

For the thousandth time today, Haruka's usually fast-paced train of thoughts stopped dead in its tracks. He blinked fervently a few times. Was that..Makoto?

Really? Whoa. He's a part of _Samezuka_, the most prestigious swim school in town? Whoaa. That would explain the incredible muscles he sported.

And indeed it was Makoto, sporting the Samezuka jacket proudly. His attention was on his friends, so he didn't realize Haruka looking at him. In fact, he didn't realize that the entire Iwatobi swim club was there at all. Makoto continued chatting, his broad grin making Haruka wonder why his lips didn't split from the width. Eventually, Kou mentioned her swim team to her brother, and Rin looked up and caught sight of Haruka. He grinned at Haruka, who raised his eyebrows in playful disinterest. Haruka couldn't stop the curl on his lips. Rin and Kou walked over.

"Yo, Haru. You did great as usual on today's competition. I got through too, though, so we get to race at regionals." Haruka's eyes glinted at the thought of racing Rin again.

"That's great, just don't cry if you lose." Rin laughed good-naturedly, his razor sharp teeth arranged neatly in a beaming smile.

"I'm not a kid anymore. Anyway, don't worry, I won't." Rin assured confidently, to which Haruka gave a curt nod before turning away to hide his smile. Rin reached out his slender hands and pulled at Haruka's cheeks, making him open his eyes wide and struggle to get out of Rin's tight grasp. Rin simply grinned wider and tugged harder (_"S-staup iht, youh idiret!"_), which made Kou laugh and Rei and Nagisa to stop their little feud. All of them ended up laughing; even Haruka, despite his hate for being tussled around, and they made quite a commotion in the fast-food restaurant. The entire Samezuka team looked at them, chuckling to themselves. Makoto included. He recognized Haruka the moment he set eyes on him; it was hard to miss such pale, perfect white skin and ink-black hair on someone, and even harder to forget.

Out of pure attraction slash animalistic instinct, Makoto laughed louder than everyone else, hoping he would get Haruka's attention.

Haruka was too busy trying to wrestle Rin off him, however—and he wouldn't have recognized Makoto's laugh, anyway. They hadn't even had a proper conversation yet, for crying out loud.

When the laughter finally died down and Rin shot a grin of triumph at an exhausted Haruka, he then proceeded to clamber off Haruka's lap, shooting a playful smile at Kou and went to his team mates, talking to a few of them jovially. The Iwatobi members chattered a bit, before helping themselves to the food, chomping down on their greasy meals. Haruka, still feeling the adrenaline rush from laughing, had quite forgotten about the presence of Makoto, who was watching him intensely from a nearby table.

"Yo, Tachibana!"

Makoto blinked, before looking at Rin, who had called him. The cherry haired male was grinning at him; the curl of his lips were friendly as always, but laced with slight mock. Makoto couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit condescended. Nonetheless, he smiled back.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing, I just kind of caught you staring at my best friend's ass—_his_ ass, to be exact, so I was actually going to question your sexuality." Rin said, grinning wider. Makoto raised his eyebrows and after processing what his teammate had just said, he panicked a bit. There were so many incorrect things in that sentence that he wanted—no, _needed_ to correct, but his thoughts were racing in his head faster than he could keep up with them.

After a moment of arranging his scattered thoughts, Makoto finally pieced together a coherent answer. Or coherent enough—at least, it sounded fine in his head, but his head had the annoying habit of making sentences sound better than they actually did when he said them out loud. Still, he had made Rin wait long enough; he was going to chance it.

"I-I wasn't staring at his ass—I mean, why would you even think that- I just _happened_ to be looking that way..a-and even if I was staring at him I would just be admiring him; not in a sexual kind of way..I just- I just like his swimming, a-and," Makoto stammered, his mouth seemingly unresponsive to his brain commands. Rin couldn't take it anymore, and burst into a fit of laughter. He pinched his nose bridge with his index finger and thumb as he looked at Makoto's bewildered face; to which he only laughed harder.

"_Relax_, Tachibana," Rin said, his laughter slowly dying down into chortles, "I'm not gonna report your sexuality to the news, so chill." Rin winked.

Makoto exhaled a quiet sigh of relief. The news definitely wasn't the first thing in his mind—but it wasn't the last—and he simply didn't want anyone to know because honestly he didn't need to have anyone breathing down his neck about his sexuality. He was gay, _so what?_

"However," Rin said, with a smirk on his face that made Makoto feel uneasy all over again. "I'm not gonna let you have a stupid crush on Haruka, not when you guys haven't even _talked_. In fact, you know what? C'mere."

Out of the blue, Rin grabbed Makoto by the arm, pulling him up to his feet (_"M-Matsuoka?"_) and dragging him to where four people wearing blue and white jackets were sitting. AKA the Iwatobi swim club. AKA Nanase Haruka's swim team. Makoto was speechless as he was pulled closer and closer to Haruka.

When they reached the table, Rin cheekily pushed Makoto towards Haruka, where the olive-haired boy stumbled and had to teeter on his tip-toes to stop himself from crashing onto the other, no matter how much he really, really wanted to, because god forbid; Haruka's silky black hair was making his hands scream _let us touch it—now!_ Haruka looked at Makoto, his eyes wide and his mouth stuffed with some fish patty, lettuce, mayo and bun. Makoto stared into his eyes, mesmerized for a few seconds, before realizing that there was a bunch of people around him and hurriedly straightening his body, messing with his bangs out of embarrassment. Rin, who was watching with amusement, chuckled. Makoto heard the chuckle and shot him a death glare between his bangs. The rest of the Iwatobi team simply watched, a little confused.

"Guys, I present to you...Tachibana Makoto!" Rin cheered, slapping his hand on Makoto's back. Makoto jerked forward a bit much from the unexpected assault, but just as quickly as it happened he regained his composure. Kou, Nagisa and Rei were confused at the sudden introduction, but smiled and greeted him anyway. Makoto gave them a sheepish grin, secretly swearing that he was going to poison Rin in his sleep that night. Haruka looked at the blushing Makoto bemusedly.

Goddamn, he was handsome.

Makoto caught Haruka's stare, and he looked back with a smile in his eyes. Haruka smiled graciously back. The others who were watching kept switching their gaze between Makoto and Haruka because they were equally puzzled about both of them. First off, why the heck did Rin introduce Makoto randomly into their group and secondly, what in Heaven's name was Haruka doing; smiling so wide at a stranger. Did they know each other?

"Weeeell, this is nice." Rin spoke up. Everyone looked at him since they didn't know what to say. "Let's eat together with them, Tachibana. You could use some, well, _friends_," and as Rin brushed past Makoto he whispered ".._with benefits_." in his ear with a cheeky wink at Makoto, who rolled his eyes.

They seated themselves down comfortably, and soon settled down. Rin had squished himself between Kou and Nagisa, which only left some space for Makoto next to Haruka and Rei. At first, Makoto had perched himself at the very edge of the seat, afraid to touch Haruka and/or possibly disgust him—for our poor Makoto had vast imagination and he treated his reputation like a sheet of fresh paper he was afraid to crinkle. Eventually, Haruka told him to scoot closer and he did, subtly pressing his body against Haruka's.

Makoto felt his breath catch in his throat at how warm and soft Haruka felt against him. When he shifted just the slightest, he could feel just how silky smooth Haruka's skin was against his and it sent delicious shivers down his back. Haruka was looking down at his plate, picking at the sesame seeds on his hamburger bun, also feeling the rigid muscles on Makoto's body press against him. Makoto had a delightfully crisp smell on him; probably the scent of some cologne but it wasn't too strong or overwhelming, and Haruka inhaled deeper breaths than usual without realizing it. The pair sat quietly, reveling in each other's touch and smell while the rest watched them sub-consciously. Rin sat there watching his teammate and best friend with a strange sense of pride; it was his plan, after all, and it had worked stupendously. It would be perfect if they started dating. They might even get married and have cute little children running around. Gosh.

After the last bits of food were gone from their plates, they decided that it was time to head back home. The Samezuka team was taking a long time and they weren't done as quickly, so Makoto and Rin had to stay back, reluctant as they were to have to part with their friends/family/cru- _romantic interest_. Just as they were leaving, Makoto caught Haruka's eye. Makoto saw the twinkle in his eye before Haruka turned and promptly left the restaurant with a whirlwind of emotions trapped in his chest. Makoto stared after him, before taking a seat on an empty table. Suddenly, several realities dawned on him all at once and he was overwhelmed by a great number of regrets.

Regret number one that circled his brain like a hawk was _I could have asked him for his freaking number_.

Regret number two was _oh my _God_ I could have talked to him more_.

Regret number three was _I now have to face the wrath of Matsuoka Rin, and I can't poison him in his sleep like I wanted to or else I'll probably never get any more chances to speak to Haruka _ever again_—gah!_

Regret after regret started to pile up in his head, and the weight of his thoughts made him cup his head in his hands, groaning under his breath. Rin was watching. The cherry-haired boy took the initiative to sit down in front of a grousing Makoto and look at him with amusement dancing in his eyes. Makoto shot his gaze up slightly to see Rin; making him glare at Rin by accident, but Makoto definitely wasn't going to express his apology. Rin simply chuckled, before leaning over the table to whisper into Makoto's ear. Makoto tensed up slightly when he felt Rin's warm breath against his cheek, but he didn't shrink back.

"Step one—meeting Haruka, has been accomplished." Rin said in a low, raspy voice. "You ready for step two, buddy?"

Makoto nodded, a bit too hastily to seem casual. He immediately regretted it when he heard Rin snicker, but he swallowed his pride down and obediently stayed still.

"So..exactly _what_ is step two?"

A classic Rin smirk.

"Intimacy."

xxx

Thank you so much for the favorites, follows and reviews, guys! It's what encourages me to continue writing more chapters :) I'm really, really happy people are actually reading my fanfiction xD

(Then again, you're probably just obsessed with FREE! lol)

About the last part, I'm not entirely sure if I'll make it intimate or not ;) I'd appreciate your opinions! As a fellow avid fanfiction reader and loyal fangirl myself, I also have my own (well, usually unspoken) thoughts about how I want some fanfictions to end, so I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter ^^ I'll try and get it up asap :DD

~LeiiYou


	3. Chapter 3

Haruka swore he could see heat waves lingering in the air around him, distorting his eyesight just a fraction. But just a fraction was still something.

Like the feelings he had for Makoto. They were _something_.

At the thought of the olive-haired boy, Haruka groaned and sat up, feeling the damp stickiness of his sweat on his back. He turned to glare at his fan, which was spinning at top speed, sending out cool air in quick blasts. He stared for quite a long time, under the impression that his fan might just work harder to relieve him of the scorching heat if he stared long enough.

Yes, Haruka was going quite insane.

If winter was one of Haruka's most detested seasons (most places that held water would either be frozen or too freezing cold to swim in), summer was the runner-up. For one, Haruka hated the heat. He also burned as easily as a dry leaf if he stayed under the sun for too long. It's not that he didn't want to get tanned, it was that he _couldn't _get tan. His porcelain white skin would _not_ turn brown. Instead, pale greyish-brown _freckles_, big and small, would start to form all over his body, making him look like he had a skin disease. Since that one fateful day; after he had swam in the ocean under the searing heat of the relentless summer sun and a little kid had ran away from him after seeing his body that was spotted enough to put a leopard to shame, Haruka swore he would never bask under direct sunlight ever again.

Anyway, back to the present; where Haruka was feeling more than just a little annoyed. The sweat drops rolling down his neck were annoying him. The shirt sticking to his torso was annoying him. The sweat-soaked hair that kept falling onto his face and getting into his eyes were annoying him. His sticky hands and thighs and the humidity of the air around him was—_uuuuuuuurgh._ Just one more little thing to trigger his annoyance, and Haruka swore he would snap and break something.

_It's so hot..I wish I had some cold watermelon to eat. I could go out and buy some but I'm going to fry like an egg under that crazy sun. I probably shouldn't have thought about cold watermelon... I'm dying for some now oh god. And did I keep my natto in the fridge? Agh screw it. Screw everything. I don't give a damn about anything anymore gah just make this heat stop!_

Haruka clasped his head in his hands, gripping at his hair. He swore he was dangling on his final thread of sanity when his phone rang, cutting through the deathly silence of his house.

Haruka was, to say the least, stunned. He never _ever_ received phone calls. There was that one time Nagisa had tried to call him and Haruka stumbled with his phone to answer it, until he eventually got frustrated with the endless ringtone he had never personally set and the vibrations that were making the nerves in his hand go bonkers, and he threw his phone against the wall in a rage.

Needless to say, it smashed into little bits and splinters, and was sadly unrecognized as a former mobile phone in its untimely death. Haruka, barely fazed by the loss of his mobile phone (considering he never used it or acknowledged its existence), swept it up and dumped it into the trash can. He had no intention of getting a new one, until Nagisa found out and started pestering him days on end to go get a new one (_"But _Haru-chan_; the new model of Semseung is just out!"_) until Haruka finally gave in, and nodded with an exasperated sigh. His sighs to Nagisa were always either exasperated, or simply chocked full with annoyance. Regardless what kind of reaction Haruka gave, however, Nagisa would always be just as happy—as long as Haruka had agreed.

Which brings us to the present. Haruka's new phone was ringing. (Nagisa had insisted on naming it Beepo simply because he found the beeps the phone made funny, but Haruka wouldn't hear of it.)

Haruka, having spent quite some time getting used to his phone after that tragic incident with his former one, answered the call successfully. It was an unknown number, but Haruka had never saved any contacts in his phone anyway, so he didn't really notice.

"Hello?"

The voice that spoke came out in a drawl, almost—it was deep and the tone wasn't too smooth. Of course, not nearly as smooth as Makoto's voice. Haruka gulped at the thought of Makoto—it was weird for him since he had never thought about someone this frequently before in his life. He pressed his phone to his ear, his thoughts roaming free once again.

"..thinking about Makoto?"

"...nnnh."

Haruka had barely realized the sound of agreement escaping his throat until he heard the caller chuckle, and even then he had to calibrate his thoughts to a few seconds back in order to remember what he had said; simply because he was riding his high-speed thought train again, and back-tracking was quite a task. It took him awhile, but he got it eventually and when he did, _boy_ did he blush. Haruka was glad nobody was around at the time, otherwise he didn't know what excuse he would come up with for his redness.

Haruka cleared his throat once.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly, not hiding the annoyance in his voice at all.

"You're an idiot, Haru." the caller said, "You really can't tell?"

"Okay first off, don't call me whatever you want; especially since I don't know who you are!" Haruka huffed, annoyed. "And secondly no, I don't know you. Just tell me your damn name already."

There was a guffaw, and it was so familiar that for a split second, a light bulb flashed in Haruka's head.

"It's Rin you dumbass."

Haruka paused. _Of course_.

"Oh. Rin. Hi."

Rin couldn't help but smile.

"Hey Haru-chan." said Rin (_"Stop using -chan!"_) "How's summer going for you?"

"It's hot." Haruka said, as if that was that and _THAT_ was an obvious problem. Rin nodded behind his phone understandingly, until he realized that Haruka wouldn't be able to see him nod.

"Yeah. It really is."

There was a pregnant pause.

"So. You free this afternoon?"

"..I don't think I have any plans. Why?"

"Nah I was just wondering. Say, you wanna hang out?" Rin said, a bit too quickly.

Haruka couldn't hold back his tiny chuckle.

"Your two sentences contradict each other, Rin." Rin swore he could hear the smile in Haruka's voice as he spoke, but kept silent.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever brainiac," Rin said in a scoff. "So you game for it or what?" There was the tiniest glimmer of hope in his voice, and Haruka could sense it.

"Just the two of us, right?"

Rin's line went silent for a while.

"Yeah of course." Another rushed sentence gushed out of Rin's mouth. He quietly cursed to himself for messing up, but he was careful not to let Haruka hear his anxiety. Rin tensed up a little in suspense, waiting for Haruka's reply. He gulped when Haruka stayed silent. Uh-oh. Haruka hadn't seen through his lie, did he?

"Okay then. See ya." There was the sound of Haruka turning his phone this way and that, trying to find out how to end the call, before the line finally went dead.

Rin could hardly believe his ears. He lowered his phone from his ear, an enormous grin spreading across his face. He got up from his bed, and shuffled over to his wardrobe, grin unmoving.

_And here I was, thinking Haruka was the sharpest little fox on Earth. Pft! He'll never have guessed my little plan._

And so Haruka, completely in denial, was rummaging through his cupboard—separating his countless swim pants from his few casual wear and picking out what he liked best.

He had no idea that at that moment; Makoto was doing the exact same thing.

xxx

HEY GUYS

ohmygee you guys are making me so happyface gah! I can't believe so many of you are following this story! :D It's too good to be true~

Thank you so much for the reviews and suggestions! :) This chapter is really just a filler lol, the real story continues in the next chapter. Sometimes fillers are nice though, right? Taking a little break from the storyline to have some cute moments :3 I promise that the fillers will definitely be more interesting in the future though! :D More MakoHaru eee

So yeah nfkjaj I think you guys can see where this is going :P *most predictable author ever orz* I'm going to let it have a nice twist from the cliche stories though! :)

Again THANK YOU for the reviews, follows and favs! :)))

~LeiiYou


	4. Chapter 4

_Now that I think about it, I haven't been in town for ages. Was it always this packed?_

After getting off the train, Haruka roamed into town to the place where Rin had texted him to go, telling Haruka to meet him there. Haruka took pride in the fact that it only took him an hour to figure out how to read and reply that message; well, in Haruka's favor, better late than never, right?

Haruka padded quietly to his destination, passing hundreds of people with each tender step forward. His sneakers never made a sound; not a single squeak—much like their wearer, Haruka. Trying to block out the noise from the crowd suffocating him, Haruka stuck his hands in his pockets, scanning the signboards of the many shops he passed.

_Is it tha- No. I don't see food; I see dresses and poofy stuff. That's gotta be an Angelic Pretty store. Goddammit I feel gay just saying that na- oh wait. Snap._

Haruka glanced down as he walked quickly past the frilly, girly—not to mention _pink_ stores simply _filled _with lolita clothes, shoes, socks; you name it, they have it. Haruka grimaced at the thought of ever wearing one of those overly puffy dresses, then gave a small guffaw at how amusing it would be if everyone found out his sexuality via a dress.

Then he quickly cut himself short, because it was actually the worse idea he had come up with in 17 years of his life. Haruka couldn't and didn't restrain the smile forming on his face, though, so he continued walking the whole way with his tiny smile hidden in the neatly folded lapels of his shirt.

It took him a good thirty minutes of solid walking—not a single meter was covered by running—to get anywhere close to that place, and by that time he was close to severe oxygen deficiency from sharing the same air with so many people. Haruka sweated and breathed heavily (he never panted. To him, panting was a sign of weakness) as he tried to calm his pounding heart. He never really did too good in crowds. However, he held out and continued walking, his eyes now desperate to find that one signboard he had been searching for. After what seemed like 3000 miles of walking later, Haruka finally laid eyes on a bright yellow signboard that, in bold, cursive words, said _Abiento._

Haruka went gratefully into the restaurant, relishing in the air-conditioning blasting from several outlets on the wall. He looked around the restaurant, looking for Rin, but the cherry-haired boy was nowhere to be found. Haruka raised an eyebrow. He sure as heck wasn't early, and he knew Rin well enough to know that he would definitely not be late. Or, at least, he would never be later than Haruka. Rin was quick when it came to things like this. Haruka knew, since Rin had always been the early one at the Ika Matsuri, and would always scold the others for being late. So, exactly where was he now?

Haruka went outside, scanning the crowd with sharp eyes to see if he could find Rin. But there was no sign of the cherry-haired teen anywhere. His head would have definitely stood out amongst the sea of brown and black heads, and also because he was tall—he towered over Haruka, who was quite petite in size. (_Not that I'm bitter.. Not that I'm bitter._) No matter how hard he looked, though, Rin wasn't anywhere to be seen. Frustrated, Haruka took out his phone and called Rin—for once, without stumbling in the slightest.

After twelve whole rings in which Haruka had almost ended the call at least twice, but didn't; Rin picked up.

"Oh hey Haru-"

"Where _are_ you?" Haruka was straight to the point. He swore he didn't imagine the gulp on Rin's line, to which he responded by furrowing his brow.

"Uh. I'm on my way. Be there in.. five..? The train.. sort of.. uh.. broke down. No, not broke down—someone, like, pressed the emergency button so they're going through one of those safety check thingies." Rin said, taking quite some time to connect his words into a sentence (read: make up an excuse); but his uncertainty and shaky voice had already started to make Haruka suspicious.

"..Oh _really?_"

Rin gave a weak laugh, using his free hand to play with a strand of hair falling on his face. Rin had a habit of playing with his hair when he was lying, so luckily for him, Haruka wasn't speaking to him face-to-face, otherwise he would have been deader than road kill.

"Yeah. Why would I lie?" Rin said, trying his hardest to sound casual, but his voice was shaking too much to sound even the slightest bit casual. Well, too bad for him.

By this time, Haruka had already started to put two-and-two together. Haruka didn't like what he came up with, though; and secretly hoped he was wrong. There was also that tiny little wisp of hope that said _yes, please, let it be true_, but Haruka simply let his annoyance and frustration override that little spark of positivity. He didn't need that crap right now.

"Oh I don't know." Haruka said, voice unchanging from its slightly accusing tone. "Maybe you arranged someone else to come here, instead of you. In fact, I doubt you were even planning to show up."

Rin bit his lip, smiling nervously.

"_Am I right_." Haruka demanded, his tone of voice making it sound like it was a statement, not a question.

"..Eheheh." That was it. Rin, with a heart heavier than a crate of bricks, had waved the white flag. Now he simply needed to brace himself from the inevitable rage Haruka was going to be in. First, he would need to hide in a bomb shelter. Yeah. Did Samezuka have one?

"..._Rin_." Haruka's voice had turned significantly harsher. Rin chewed the inside of his cheeks, waiting for the lecture he was sure Haruka was going to give him.

"Don't tell me you actually asked _Makoto_ to meet me here."

"Well, you gotta tell me this, first; if I say yes.. would you kill me?"

"_Rin!_"

"Okay, okay!" Rin took a sharp breath in, as if he was afraid that it was going to be his last.

"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry alright," he added quickly, afraid of Haruka blowing up—as if his words were a flame and Haruka was a bomb just waiting to explode. "I just figured you guys might like spending time with each other. I don't know-"

"What do you mean; _spend time with each other_? I don't know him, Rin!" Haruka snarled. "You know I don't do well with strangers! And this time, I'm going to be alone with him; you guys won't even be there to help. How could you lie to me, Rin?" Haruka's voice dropped to a sad, pretense whisper; simply because he knew he could definitely spark a reaction from Rin if he pretended to be sad.

Okay. That was it. Rin wasn't going to let Haruka (well, verbally) assault his soft side just because he had tricked him. Besides, it was a tiny, docile little trick (putting the train fare and travelling time aside), which wouldn't have mattered at the end of the day, anyway.

"Haru." Rin said, his voice sterner than Haruka had expected. "Just go with it, holy crap. Would spending a little time with him kill you? Really? 'Cause you two seemed like you were doing perfectly—_faultlessly_ fine back at the restaurant the other day. 'Sides," Rin added, the harshness in his voice slowly dissipating with every escaping syllable from his mouth, "You know I'd never do anything to make you upset."

Haruka kept silent for a moment, pondering this. The sole minute (that felt like an hour to Rin) that Haruka took to reply was neccessary to give him ample time to process everything that was going on. Was this really happening? He was actually going to meet up with Makoto—_alone?_ That thought on its own sent shivers down Haruka's spine. He contemplated pinching his arm just to make sure he wasn't dreaming or anything—even though he clearly remembered waking up that morning, to the putrid smell of spoilt natto—but didn't for fear of looking like an idiot. His free hand that was suspended in mid-air, on its way to his arm, made him look equally as stupid as he had dreaded, nonetheless.

"..Rin?" Haruka finally said, trying to keep his voice composed, and quite succeeding seeing as Rin was still quaking from fretfulness at finally hearing Haruka speaking again. Haruka heard the gulp on Rin's line, but decided not to poke fun at him about it.

Rin had to take a few seconds to breathe after the knot of anxiety had loosened in his chest before he could reply.

"Yes, Haru-ch- ..ka?" Of course, the slip of his tongue was obvious, but Haruka let yet another casualty slide. Rin barely noticed how he had been spared another lecture.

"I'll forgive you," Haruka said, pausing for effect, and also to let it sink into Rin nice and deep somewhere in his grey matter, "But on one condition."

"Anything." Rin blurted, barely caring that he sounded desperate. Haruka smiled into his phone.

"..You have to come here, like you promised (_you asshole_). In fact, you have to come here, right. _Now_."

Rin was partially relieved since he could hear the lightness in Haruka's voice, but there was also the part of him that was disenchanted to no end. He had honestly wanted Makoto and Haruka to spend some quality time alone to bond, but it looked like his plan had foiled. And terribly, at that.

"..okay, then." Rin sighed in defeat. "I'll be there in a bit. See ya."

And with a click, the line went dead, leaving Haruka ample time to lower his phone from his heated, red ear, smile to the ground, and scrutinize his mixed feelings one by one.

_I'm _**actually**_ seeing Makoto. I'm _**actually** _seeing _**Makoto**_. I'm _**actually. ****Seeing**_**. **_**Makoto**_**.**_

Haruka had to suppress the squeal aching to get out of his throat.

xxx

YO GUYS

hasn't it been awhile ahahahahahahahhha /bricked

I'm so, so sorry I haven't been updating ugh. Life (read: school) has been obstructing me from writing, although my ideas are overflowing. (My fault for having a shallow mind I guess *snorts and laughs at own joke* ._.)

Before this, on previous accounts, I usually only did one-shots (and they were never really recognized, lol), so I never knew doing a chaptered story was going to be so stressful. But it's so satisfying when I manage to get a new chapter up, and the satisfaction increases tenfold when you guys start telling me how much you love it *tears up*

MMMHM so yea this chapter pretty much sucked, I know. I probably let a lot of you down, especially since I made you wait for so long. I apologize *bows* But I promise I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow. I figured that I had made the 4th chapter a bit too long, so I decided to split it into two parts, and voilà, I now have Chapter 4 and 5. Besides, at least you have something to look forward to now, right? :) Also, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but Chapter 5 is legit awesome omg. It's a lot more descriptive and there'll be a lot more interesting stuff happening :D

Look forward to it guys! :) Again, sorry for making you wait m(_ _)m

~LeiiYou


	5. Chapter 5

Panting and wheezing, Rin finally navigated his way through the crowd and found the raven-haired Haruka happily dreaming into the distance. After hollering Haruka's name several times — each time significantly louder than the previous, despite his breathless voice — and getting no response in return, a vexed Rin caught hold of Haruka's ear, steeled his arm muscles and _twisted_. Haruka took two whole seconds to respond — which was as slow as a snail's crawl, in Haruka's lightning-fast standards — and he yelped his displeasure, scrunching his face up into the most un-Haruka faces Rin had ever seen in one shot. The cherry-haired boy grinned, letting go of Haruka's ear (_"That hurt, you ass!"_) and amusedly watching Haruka as he frantically rubbed his ear, grumbling non-stop under his breath. Haruka finally straightened up after a while, choosing to shoot a nasty glare at Rin for his stupid antics rather than welcome him for actually obliging to come.

Rin chuckled, looking quite proudly at Haruka's impressively red ear and mentally praising himself for accomplishing such a feat. Haruka looked at Rin's grin, his face distorted into a very displeased look. Seeing Haruka react so hugely to him simply made Rin smile all the wider.

"..You're quick." Haruka finally said, his hand unrelenting on his sore ear. He rubbed the cartilage of it a few times while looking at Rin straight in the eye, hoping the other would feel guilty and apologize, though he knew it was unlikely. Rin saw his movements — however slight Haruka was, Rin wouldn't be able to overlook it—and understood what Haruka meant to initiate, but merely smirked as he continued to juggle their conversation coolly without a single scrap of guilt. Haruka's eyebrow twitched just a fraction out of exasperation.

"Yeah. I just put on a shirt and came out," Rin said, not even trying to sound embarrassed. Haruka flittingly scanned the other's attire once, then, without realizing, twice. It was true that Rin hadn't put any effort into dressing up at all. All he wore was a black shirt, khaki Bermuda pants that had frayed slightly at the ends and flip-flops that could easily be mistaken as beach sandals. Haruka didn't deny that he still looked very attractive, though. The raven-haired boy sighed, the tiniest bit of jealousy swirling in his chest, threatening to start another whirlwind. Secretly, he wished he could pull off a casual look and still appear surprisingly good rather than spending too much time digging through his closet, unsure of what he was looking for.

Haruka looked down at himself self-consciously. He had on an ombré blue and white collared shirt, black skinny jeans and his only pair of black sneakers. Haruka hadn't made an effort to style his hair — though he wished he had, now — and neither did Rin, but it was obvious who could pull off the droopy hairstyle without the bunches of follicles looking like dead sea anemone atop one's scalp. Surprisingly, Haruka won in this section of _'Au Naturale Hair', _for his luscious ink-black hair looked perfect although he had zero hair product on. Rin, on the other hand, had strands of hair sticking out all over the place; looking like he had just woken up from a long nap. (Which may or may not have been possible, but I suppose we shall never know.)

"So." Haruka said, after a long pause. Rin switched his stare from the crowd to Haruka's face again.

"When..when is Makoto coming?" Haruka said, looking away from Rin's grin.

"Hmm. I don't know, Haru," Rin said, in something close to a sing-song voice, but barely, "Maybe you should give him a call?"

Haruka looked over at Rin, glaring harshly with his cobalt eyes. He knew that by 'give him a call', Rin meant 'do you want his number' — and although Haruka would have loved to know Makoto's number, he wasn't going to strip his pride down a few levels just for it.

Although talking to Makoto was definitely worth a few crumbs of his pride. Yeah. It was.

Haruka opened his mouth a fraction as if he had something to say, then closed it, sucking his lips in for extra effect — keeping his words trapped in his mouth stubbornly. He looked at Rin, eyes narrowed, before turning away into the crowd again.

"No thanks."

Rin began to laugh.

"You asswipe, Rin."

xxx

The sun was searing into their necks, branding their skin and forcing sweat to pour out. Haruka fanned at himself helplessly, hoping to God he wouldn't start reeking. Rin was simply chilling under the sun, seemingly enjoying himself as his skin absorbed all the Vitamin A it needed (and more). Thoughts of _oh my God Makoto's coming _were floating ceaselessly in Haruka's airy mind; filling in the spaces in his brain, and yet he wasn't stopping it. He prayed to God that nobody around him could read minds, otherwise they would be absolutely startled at what he was thinking of.

After another good ten minutes, Haruka shifted from his position, feeling the sweat under his pits as he rested his arms down. Haruka cringed in disgust.

Oh, what he would do to be in a pool right now. Kill? Probably not, but he would do batshit crazy things for it.

Rin watched as Haruka sighed, clearly noticing that the raven-haired boy was getting annoyed. He took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it; 11.03 pm. He had told Makoto to meet them (well, Haruka) at 10.30 am sharp, and yet he was running late by exactly 33 minutes. And several seconds. And milliseconds. And whatever came after that, but _yes_; it was a fact that Makoto was tardy for a date with Haruka, and Rin was beginning to doubt if he deserved to date his best friend or not.

Rin clenched his phone in his fist, clicking his tongue loudly in impatience. He took another confused glance at Haruka — who was taking Makoto's lateness quite well, until Rin impulsively thought of the quote _'love changes a person'_, and a smile started to grow on his face. Haruka didn't realize, though. He was too busy scanning the sea of multi-colored heads for an olive one, but sighed exasperatedly when he failed. Part of him stubbornly believed that he wanted Makoto to hurry up and arrive just so he could go and find shade from the terrible heat, but the more honest part of him knew that, secretly, he was aching to see Makoto again. Smell that irresistible musky smell on Makoto that Haruka had been dying to catch a whiff of again. Hear his deep, smooth-as-butter voice saying his name in the most attractive way possible. See that incredibly bright smile light up the room again. Just- mmm, _Makoto._ Haruka chewed on his lips, ashamed of his thoughts. He tried to distract himself by immersing his thoughts about the things around him, so he proceeded to scan the areas around him, taking in every tiny detail.

_I wonder when the sakura trees are going to be in full blossom.. Also, I haven't taken a trip to Shibuya in a long time; maybe I could get Rin to go with me. And that gargoyle statue — broken hand, legs, chipped ears; gee, it sure sucks to be a statue. Oh, and I should stop by the convenience store on the way back. I need to restock on natto, and maybe I could just settle dinner with some onigiri. Or will we be having dinner together, too? Dinner with Makoto..._

Without realizing it, Haruka had gotten lost in his thoughts (of Makoto) again, staring into space. Rin tapped his foot impatiently against the rough cement of the road, his irritance level upping by the second as he swept his eyes around the crowd before him for the thousandth time. _Where in the world was Makoto?_

There was the abrupt sound of a tinkling crash and crunching of plastic bags that quieted the endless thudding of shoes for a split second. Rin and Haruka simultaneously turned to find the source of the noise. Haruka, with his sharp eyes, was the first to catch sight of the incident.

A young girl — probably less than a decade old — was lying on the sidewalk, her eyes gleaming with tears as she looked at a fallen bicycle in front of her and, next to it, several plastic bags that had ripped open, strewing various kinds of groceries all over the road. It was easy to decipher what had happened, and Haruka was quick to act on things like this; especially if it involved little children, crying and the like. He hurriedly pushed his way through the murmuring crowd and kneeled down next to the little girl, who looked into his eyes with a melancholy, shiny stare. Haruka's heart melted like hot butter, and he swiftly looked at her bleeding knees with eyes as soft as a doe's.

"Can you stand?" Haruka asked, his voice gentle and soothing. The girl seemed transfixed for a moment; clinging to the almost menthol effect his voice had on her, but nodded anyway, moving her sore legs a bit just to prove it. He held her arm firmly as she tried to stand up, looking over her like a mother would her child. The little girl managed to stand — though she was wobbly and stumbled a few times — and after doing so, she looked at Haruka again, almost as if she was expecting another command from him. It was adorable, and Haruka couldn't help grinning despite his worry for her wounds. He helped her limp to a safer place, away from the bustling and somewhat dangerous crowds, and sat her down in a nearby store. The shopkeeper had seen the whole incident happen, and without Haruka asking she immediately went to the back of her store to find her first-aid kit.

The little girl watched Haruka's every move like a kitten. Haruka had kneeled down in front of her to get better access to her bruised knees, but he swore that if she continued staring at him so intensely, it would burn a hole in his skull. He glanced up occasionally to smile at her, and she would simply smile back in her innocent child-like manner.

The shopkeeper was taking a long time to get the first-aid kit. Haruka, tired of looking at the girl's blue-black knees, looked up instead — into the girl's pretty sakura-hued eyes.

"So, what's your name?" Haruka asked, trying to start small talk with her. The little girl, who was fiddling with her fingers, looked at him and started talking in such a sweet voice that it took a while for Haruka to properly assess if she was singing or talking.

"Hanako." She said — almost chirped, Haruka noted with an internal sigh. "Mizayaki Hanako."

"I see." Haruka said, pleasantly; though at this point, he had no idea how to continue the conversation. He cursed his abhorrent social skills and remained silent; his mind inconveniently reminding him of how stupid he looked in front of a grade-schooler.

"What's onii-chan's name?" The soft whisper in which Hanako had used to voice her question almost missed Haruka's ears; and most of it did, but he had managed to catch the gist of it just in time.

"Haruka." He said, stopping too quickly. _'Though you can call me Haru' _ had almost slipped out, but he caught himself before he could say it.

"Then can I call you.. Haru?"

Haruka opened his mouth to protest — to say blatantly _no you may not_, like he did to everyone, but his weakness for children took over and he nodded, somewhat disheartened at his lack of authority against little kids. Hanako seemed delighted, though, and even started humming a song as she waited for her knees to be treated.

It took a while, but eventually the shopkeeper came back with a white box in her hand, huffing and looking like she had been rummaging through dusty objects to find what she was searching for.

After treating Hanako's knees gently with antiseptic, Haruka carefully bandaged her wounds. In the midst of doing so, a deep voice spoke from behind Haruka, followed by the rustling of plastic bags. Haruka didn't turn around from being too absorbed in treating the Hanako's wounds, and his mind comprehended the sound as a meaningless addition to the non-stop noise from the busy crowd.

"Here, I brought the groceries, Hanako." The voice was unexpectedly sultry and ridiculously smooth, but Haruka barely heard it. The owner of the voice set a few plastic bags next to Haruka and Hanako, then stepped away. Hanako smiled and thanked him sweetly.

"Thank you, Mako-nii-chan."

Haruka, who had been rolling up the clean bandages to be replaced into the first-aid kit, stopped as if shot.

_Did she just say..Mako-nii-chan..?_

He hadn't heard wrong, had he? How he wished he could replay his life to a few seconds back, just to hear Hanako's words again. Haruka swallowed, but his throat still felt dry. All he needed to do to confirm it was to turn around..

"What the- Haruka? Is that you?"

Yeap. That was Makoto alright.

xxx

No, don't tell me, I know.

Homework, no holidays, being sick, school activities, life, homework; did I mention that already? Oops. Well there's a darn huge load of stuff keeping me from writing this story, which sucks since I always have so many good ideas but I never have the time to properly type them into something even similar to a story. Simply completing this chapter was a task, holy crap.

I would have posted this earlier by like five freaking days, but when I tried to, ff net got all glitchy on me, and it was 2 am on a school night and I was hungry, sleepy and physically exhausted from sports and I had to be awake in 3 more hours so I was not going to put up with _that_ shit. I tried once, twice, thrice, and when nothing happened; BAM. NOPENOPENOPE. I literally just killed my laptop (read: force-shut it down), slammed the screen onto the keyboard, curled up next to it and fell asleep. And I was late for school the next day any fucking way, so.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

I'm really trying really, really hard to keep writing and at the same time, keep up the quality of the chapters. (pfft. Quality.) So be patient :(

ILY guys though :) thank you for the constructive advice. Some of you reminded me of how I was going slightly OOC with the characters, and so I'll try to change it in the future.

Until the next chapter!

~LeiiYou


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